


A Hard Heart Needing to be Softened

by FeralCreature



Category: Assassin's Creed - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Angst and Feels, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst and Tragedy, Comfort/Angst, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Heavy Angst, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-18
Updated: 2018-08-18
Packaged: 2019-06-29 01:19:16
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,383
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15718971
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FeralCreature/pseuds/FeralCreature
Summary: The pirate captain grieved his wife, missed her, needed her. You sit with him in the darkness to console him as best you could, hiding your own feelings for the man. But as always, you wanted to see his happiness before yours..“You are loved and cared for, Edward Kenway,” you whispered to him before getting up to balance yourself on your elbow and placing a tender kiss on his forehead.





	A Hard Heart Needing to be Softened

The air was unusually chilly that night in the Great Inagua- almost always the weather would be a sweltering heat that would make most of your clothing disappear within two hours of being outside. But tonight was different, storm clouds gathered on the horizon just as the hull of the Jackdaw made it’s way into the port; finally back from long weeks of plundering at sea. Your skirt grazed the long strand of grass as you made your way down the docks to greet the crew and it’s captain who were surely eager to take in the pleasures and safety of the island.

“Adéwalé,” you greeted, nodding towards the quartermaster and he nodded back with a small smile. “How was the journey? Is there anything Captain Kenway wishes for me to do?”

He had his arms crossed, turning towards the lagoon off the pier and watched the waves move with the wind. Your own hair blew behind you, signs of the storm that was sure to come through

“None currently, Edward has had a long journey-“ he said in a hushed tone as he inched closer to your ear, “-between you and me, he needs someone to watch him.”

Your eyebrow cocked up but you nodded, understanding the situation. Edward was a strong man, but even strong men can only deal with so much before they reach a tipping point. You remembered the nights at his mansion on the hill when he thought everyone had left and he took a bottle to his room, talking to himself about what could’ve been with his wife. Your heart wrenched every time you heard his voice soften as he muttered the name “Caroline, Caroline” over and over again before he drifted off into sleep.

The quartermaster nodded solemnly and as you were both about to leave, but the door of the captain’s quarters opened and out stumbled the blond haired captain with a bottle hanging from his hand. He greeted some of his crew before walking down to the dock and making his way up to his mansion alone.

You turned towards Adéwalé with a worried glance, “I’ll just make sure all the manifests are correct before I go up to make sure he’s okay.”

“Good luck, (y/n),” he said.

~

You listed off the last of the rum shipments, counted the final bags of sugar, and posted the manifest at the harbor master’s station before making your way towards the hill. As your feet left the bare sand to the grass once more, thunder clapped overhead, and began to pelt your surroundings without warning. Your hands quickly untied the scarlet sash you wore around your waist to use as cover- albeit thin, it stopped the immediate rain from soaking you completely. Cursing, you ran through the rain with haste, your sandals slapping against the wet stone stairs leading up the hill and you slowed once you reached the white threshold of the mansion.

It was dark inside, only the momentary lightning briefly lit up the rooms giving it an eerie vibe. You let the sash cover your dripping hair and worked on getting a fire started in the main hall to provide light. The sparks were stubborn at first but soon roared into a great fire that instantly sent tendrils of warmth through you, the heat melting the cold off of your shivering fingers.

“Much better,” you muttered as you began to reach up to pull your scarlet sash- which was now stained with water making the color deeper in tone. Your fingers began to intertwine with the silk to slip it off until a familiar voice echoed in the lonely house.

“Caroline?”

You froze, not knowing what to do. That was Edward’s voice, you were sure of it! But he couldn’t be talking to you could he?

Footsteps quickly made their way towards you as Edward’s voice called out again, “Caroline? Is that.. you?” The footsteps stopped a few meters behind you as you turned to look at him, his face falling as soon as he recognized you.

“Oh.. (y/n), I’m sorry I thought you were..” he began but looked away, embarrassed.

“You thought I was Caroline,” you finished for him, pulling your sash off of your head. “Was it this?” You gestured towards the wet garment in your hand.

He was silent for a moment before looking at the sash you held, the fire flickering in his ocean blue eyes, “Aye, it’s the same color as her hair. I’m sorry, lass.”

“I finished all of your logs for you captain, also the harbor master will see to it that your haul will be made profitable,” you reported to him and he gave a disinterested hum in response. You sighed and walked up to him, squeezing his arm and offered him a smile.

“Edward, I am here for you, you know that? You’ve a family here that cares for you. If only you could see that,” you continued and you hesitated before your arms encompassed his body and gave him a hug. His body tensed slightly, not used to the affection of he gesture- as he’s been with a rough crew who couldn’t fathom anything that didn’t have to do with plunder and pleasure.

“Come, you need to rest,” you whispered, letting go of him but still grabbing onto his sleeve and led him to his bedroom. He went to sit down on his bed, the wet clothes staining the sheets around him and he began to remove his gauntlet. Your hands began to work on removing his armor, setting them down neatly in a chest and you started to light the fireplace in the room.

“Got to keep you warm, captain. If you are ill, the West Indies would fall,” you laughed and he gave a small chuckle in response. The sound of his laugh made your heart lift up as the fire began to come to life, casting an orange glow to the room. You turned to see the fire illuminate Edward’s face, which was clearly fatigued and sullen. The pain was hidden but it was there, hidden behind the proud faćade of the ‘Devil of the Sea’. He sat and looked at you, only wearing his trousers and white undershirt that had a plunging neckline to reveal the many tattoos decorating his tanned skin.

You got up, dusting the soot off on your skirt before making your way to exit- turning back to look at Edward once more before leaving, “Do you need anything else, Edward?”

He sat silent for a moment before extending a hand out to you and you inhaled sharply before walking towards him and gently placing your hand atop his open palm. His eyes looked up at you, “Aye, don’t leave me alone tonight lass, please.”

Your grip tightened slightly around his hand and he scooted back to the middle of the bed, leading you with him as he lay on his back, a hand behind his head. Hesitating you slipped your slippers off and crawled on the bed but sat on your knees to look at him, not sure how to proceed. You respected the man but cuddling with Edward Kenway himself.. your cheeks began to heat up and your heart picked up the pace, matching the intensity of the thunder that rumbled just outside.

“(y/n),” he beckoned you to lay down next to him and you inched closer to him, laying down on your back with your hands folded over your stomach. He shifted onto his side with his hand supporting his head and looked at you.

“This was how we were laying before I left, you know? ‘Cept I was in your position and she in mine. I promised her, ‘two years’ I told her..” he let out a chuckle and shut his eyes, breathing deeply.

“May I?” He asked, asking for permission to get closer to you and you knelt into him as a response. His hand rested on your hip and he gave it a light squeeze as you turned on your side to face him and look at his face in the darkness; his face was tired but handsome as usual, his blond hair was still damp and swept back to show off the horizontal scar on his cheek. Your fingers reached up to trace the smoothed scar then trailing your finger down his cheek to trail along the outline of the tentacles of the octopus resting on his chest. His grip tightened even more on your thigh as he let out air through his nose, watching your eyes and movements.

When the pads of your fingers touched lightly, he let out another contented sigh, “It feels good to be touched so tenderly again.” Your eyes looked up to see him hold your gaze and the longer you stared at him- lost in his caring gaze, the more your heart seemed to drum and you feared his keen ears would hear how his presence affected you.. as well as his touch. Looking down, not being able to stand the intensity of his glare anymore, your hands still absentmindedly trailed along the skin under his shirt.

He caught your hand right when it crossed his heart and kept it there, giving a small smile. It took a while before you picked up on the subtle heartbeat that quickly picked up the pace the longer your hand stayed. Edward’s eyes still watched you as you moved his hand to feel your heartbeat, his smile growing wilder as he began to pick up on the fast beating.

“You are loved and cared for, Edward Kenway,” you whispered to him before getting up to balance yourself on your elbow and placing a tender kiss on his forehead.

He was silent and as were you as you both lay there, listening to the raindrops hit the wooden roof.

~

You were on your knees, the British steel making a thin cut along your neck to show the severity of the situation.

“You are given the chance to turn yourselves over for the crimes against the British crown, if you do not we will kill her,” the officer standing above you yelled out loud to the opposing ship. You saw Edward, his eyes filled with rage and frustration- pacing with a hand on his hip and another rubbing the back of his neck.

“We will not wait forever, damned pirate!” He yelled out again and he pulled you up off your knees, letting the sword pierce your neck further- letting the blood form a stream down on your shirt.

“Okay okay, STOP!” Edward shouted out, his hands gripping the wooden rails of the Jackdaw. His eyes were torn as he watched the bloodstain grow on your shirt. “What are your bloody terms?”

“Surrender and we will let her go, you and your crew will come with us-“

_Not like this, not giving up what hard work they put into their new republic be put to waste._

“EDWARD, GIVE NO QUARTER!” You yelled out as you brought your head forward, letting the blade pierce your throat more and then slamming it back with all the might you could muster. The officer let out a surprised yelp with you grabbing the sword by the blade and used the hilt to slam him on the head more. You proceeded to stab him on the neck and grabbed his pistol, aiming it at another running towards you.

“I’m going over to help!” You heard Edward call out and you held a gun towards him and he looked at you with confusion crossing his face.

“Stay there!” You barked as you crossed swords with British soldier. Taking the pistol, you aimed it at the red barrels of gunpowder sitting conveniently in the middle of the deck. You took a shot and made a dive overboard, only hearing the sounds of wood splintering and fire whooshing onboard. The saltwater stung your open wounds with red clouds of blood surrounding you as you fought against the currents to swing up towards the Jackdaw. As you grabbed onto it’s worn wood, a hand grabbed you by your shirt and pulled you onboard.

You sputtered the seawater out of your mouth and you clutched your stomach, feeling a sharp pain beginning to shoot through you as you tried to sit up. Crying out, you laid back and you looked at your hand- now drenched in crimson blood. Feeling where the source of the sharp pain came from, you felt the wooden shrapnel that jutted out from your abdomen. Grabbing onto it and gritting your teeth, you pulled it out and threw it to the side.

Edward untied your sash and tried to use it to staunch the bleeding, barking frantic orders at the crew to bring supplies onboard. Your head turned to look at him and the golden sails of the Jackdaw seemed to distort even more as your vision began to fade.

“Lass, (y/n), stay with me, keep ‘yer eyes open! We can, we can…” he trailed off, trying to stop the seemingly endless amount of blood that left your body.

“You know I won’t make it, Kenway.”

You looked towards the sun that set over the horizon and you shut your eyes, accepting your coming fate. You took the sash that Edward held in his hands and tied it around his waist, you gave him a weak smile. “It looks better on you,” you let out a pathetic laugh as you coughed up blood, letting it dribble down your chin.

You took his hand as he held you in his arms, your head resting against his shoulders as you both sat there to look at the sunset. His eyes threaten to fill with tears but you shushed him and held a hand to his face, offering him the same smile you gave him that night when you both lay in bed.

“You are so loved, Edward Kenway,” you mumbled, feeling yourself lose control of your conscious. “You are so loved, so loved.. so.. loved..” your breathing began to sound more labored as your eyes slowly shut, the last thing you saw was Edward’s face- filled with sorrow.

“I love you..” you whispered hoarsely before you felt the embrace of death take you.

**Author's Note:**

> It’s not smut as I usually write, I just want to give all of the AC protagonists hugs because they put up with so much. Also a new semester is upon us and it stresses me out. Anywaaayyss, kudos and comments are appreciated. Let me know who you want to see next (:


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